Test Your Grinder Safety Knowledge

products, offers the Grinder Safety Training CD, developed to help fabricators improve safety and minimize risk by focusing on a personal protection system for pedestal and bench grinders. An Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) examination of 27 grinder-wheel accidents in an 8-yr. period revealed that 26 percent of those accidents resulted in employee deaths.

“Because abrasive-wheel grinders are everyday equipment in workplaces nationwide,” says Mancomm president and founder Benjamin W. Mangan, “many workers become complacent about their hazards. Improper use of a grinding wheel, or the use of one that is defective or damaged, can cause the wheel to break up. And those flying fragments can be deadly.”

While you’re waiting for your CD to arrive, you might have your operators take this grinder-safety awareness quiz, derived from the audio portion of the CD. The answers appear at the bottom of this page.

1. Why should eye protection be used when operating a grinder?

A) To protect the worker’s eyes from sparks.

B) To protect the worker’s eyes from flying fragments, if the wheel breaks.

C) To protect the eyes from ultraviolet rays created by the hot metal.

D) A and B

2. Which of these are forms of personal protective equipment you may need while using a grinder?

A) Eye protection

B) Respirator

C) Ear plugs

D) All of the above

3. Why shouldn’t you wear jewelry while operating a grinder?

A) The sparks will tarnish silver or gold.

B) It could get caught in the equipment.

C) The fumes will cause gems to become cloudy.

D) It’s considered bad luck in many workplaces.

4. Why would you want to tap a grinding wheel with the nonmetallic handle of a screwdriver?

A) You would never want to do that, it could hurt the wheel.

B) If the wheel makes a ringing noise, you will know it is not fit for use.

C) It’s part of a test to check the usability of the wheel.

D) Tapping a grinding wheel shakes any impurities out of its pores.

5. When gauging the compatibility between a grinder’s RPM and a grinding wheel’s RPM, remember:

A) The two numbers must be exactly the same.

B) The two numbers are not connected.

C) The RPM of the grinder is als twice that of the grinding wheel.

D) None of the above

6. When you need to put a new wheel on your grinder, what should you do with the wheel first?

A) Nothing. If it’s a new wheel, straight out of its packaging, just put it right on the grinder.

B) Give it a “ring test” to make sure it is suitable for use.

C) Prepare it for use by soaking it in water for no less than 3 min.

D) Roll it across the floor to make sure it is perfectly round.

7. How much of a gap should there be between the work rest and the face of the grinding wheel?

A) 1⁄8 in. or less

B) No less than 1⁄8 in.

C) ¼ in.

D) 1 in.

8. If your grinder requires repairs, what kind of replacement parts should you use?

A) Any kind that will fit. Parts for most brands of grinders are interchangeable.

B) Only manufacturer-recommended replacement parts.

C) Only parts purchased from the same store as the grinder.

D) None of the above

9. The wheel hole diameter and the grinder arbor size are not the same. What can you do to make the wheel workable?

A) The wheel is not compatible with the grinder, do not install it.

B) Go ahead and install it, even if you have to force the wheel onto the spindle.

C) Screw on the wheel nut especially tight.

D) B and C

10. What kind of material can you grind with aluminum oxide grinding wheels?